The present invention relates to an audio apparatus in which, when sources of different numbers of channels are to be reproduced, balance/fader adjustment is easily performed.
In order to output in two channels a 2-channel compatible audio source supplied from a CD, an MD, or the like (hereinafter, such an audio source is referred to as a 2-channel source), speakers for two channels, i.e., two speakers respectively for left and right sides are required.
In a vehicle audio apparatus, such speakers for two channels are placed in the front and rear sides of a cabin, and a 2-channel source is output in two channel from both the front and rear sides. The audio apparatus includes: a fader adjustment section which adjusts the volume balance of the 2-channel source output from front and rear speakers; and a balance adjustment section which adjusts the volume balance of the 2-channel source output from left and right speakers. The listener can set the 2-channel source output from the speakers so as to produce a sound field (localization) suiting own taste, by using the two adjustment sections.
Specifically, the balance adjustment section can set sound localization of the 2-channel source to the driver's side or to the passenger's side or move sound localization in the lateral direction, by adjusting the volume balance of the 2-channel source output from the left and right speakers. The fader adjustment section can set sound localization of the 2-channel source to the front side of the cabin or to the rear side or move sound localization in the anteroposterior direction, by adjusting the volume balance of the 2-channel source output from the front and rear speakers.
In accordance with the advance of the capacity of a recording medium, audio apparatuses which can output a multi-channel audio source of three or more channels (hereinafter, such an audio source is referred to as a multi-channel source) in addition to a 2-channel source are increasing in number.
In a DVD, for example, a 5.1-channel audio source is recorded in order to listen to the audio of a more enhanced sense of presence. Specifically, audio sources for six channels consisting of front left and right speakers, rear left and right speakers, a center speaker, and a woofer are independently recorded. In a vehicle audio apparatus, therefore, a center speaker and a woofer are additionally disposed in a cabin so as to cope with a multi-channel source, with the result that the apparatus has a configuration which can cope with both a 2-channel source and a multi-channel source.
However, a premise for a process of producing source contents in a 2-channel source for a stereophonic system is different from that in a multi-channel source for the 5.1-channel system or the like. Depending on whether the audio source to be listened is a 2-channel source or a 5.1-channel source, therefore, the setting conditions of the balance and the fader must be changed each time. In other words, with respect to a 2-channel source, the optimum setting is not requested by the source contents, and the balance and the fader are set basically in accordance with the taste of the listener. By contrast, a multi-channel source is produced on the premise that the reproduction volumes of the channels are equal to one another at the listening position, and hence the balance and the fader must be set so that sound localization is placed at the listening position.
In a 2-channel source, for example, the fader may be often adjusted with being extremely shifted toward the front or rear side because the balance and the fader are adjusted in accordance with the taste of the listener. When a multi-channel source is reproduced while maintaining such fader adjustment, reproduction is performed with extremely shifting sound localization to the front or rear side with respect to the listening position, with the result that the sense of presence of the reproduced audio is largely impaired.